Moneyball... the movie

Maybe if we can't get Billy Beane then we can at least get Brad Pitt?

12 months ago Schizo 16 comments 0 recs |

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This could be good as long as you don't expect it to follow the book very closely.

And I’m sure it will do better service to Michael Lewis than that putrid Sandra Bullock bore fest “The Blind Side”

GM's are in charge of Managers, not the other way around.

by shoemile on Jun 16, 2011 4:26 PM CDT reply actions

Bore fest is being nice to the Blind Side.

Absolute garbage would barely be in the realm of what to describe it as.

This looks watchable.

by SenorGato on Jun 16, 2011 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, your description is better than mine.

I can’t believe she won an Oscar for that tripe.

GM's are in charge of Managers, not the other way around.

by shoemile on Jun 16, 2011 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions

Not to mention the fact that Michael Oher says

most of it is self-glorifying crap for the family

"We're young and dumb and ready to go throw strikes." James Russell

by PacificCub on Jun 16, 2011 6:33 PM CDT up reply actions

There is a dearth of roles for strong, middle-aged women

She did a good job with it, but I believe some of the voting was just for the fact that she got to play that kind of role.

I think the movie plays better when you’re a parent. You realize the story’s been cleaned up (e.g., the kids never misbehave in the movie, and the parents are saints) but the emotions of learning to love another child strike a chord. I write this as someone who’s been in the process of international adoption for almost 2 years now.

Angel Guzman is the man.

by cubzfan on Jun 17, 2011 10:12 AM CDT up reply actions

Oh and Michael Lewis has big friends...

this is now two books turned movies.

by SenorGato on Jun 16, 2011 6:48 PM CDT via mobile reply actions

He deserves it

Even his occasional short articles for magazines are among the best-written pieces I’ve ever read. I met him once, and told him how much I enjoyed that his books, especially Moneyball, are really about people, not a plot.

Angel Guzman is the man.

by cubzfan on Jun 17, 2011 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah he's one of the more readable writers out there.

I’ve read most/all of his stuff.

by SenorGato on Jun 17, 2011 10:59 AM CDT up reply actions

Liar's Poker is next!

by pb5689 on Jun 16, 2011 8:03 PM CDT reply actions

That's my guess.

by SenorGato on Jun 16, 2011 8:32 PM CDT up reply actions

I thought they already did "Wall Street"

And “Wall Street II”…

"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root

by Clutch16 on Jun 17, 2011 10:58 AM CDT up reply actions

Also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt3_BeT3gGI

"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root

by Clutch16 on Jun 17, 2011 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions

I loved the book...

…but time hasn’t been too kind to it. For instance, Kenny Williams comes off as something of an idiot in it for his high draft choices and yet, when the dust settled, who had the championship ring?

The reality of it is that none of Bean’s bargain basement draft choices panned out. Sure he had some nice reclamation projects (the chapter dealing with Scott Hatteberg’s difficult but, ultimately, successful conversion to first base is a highlight) but, overall, I’m not too sure that the “moneyball” concept really worked all that well.

by bluekoolaide on Jun 17, 2011 3:48 PM CDT reply actions

Others will be along shortly

To tell you that Billy Beane’s strategy wasn’t about being cheap (as the name “Moneyball” would lead you to believe), but rather identifying a market inequity and exploiting it. The consistent regular-season success of the A’s in the early naughties shows how well the strategy worked. As we are fond of repeating around here, “The postseason is a crap-shoot”.

I wouldn’t call Beane’s strategy an unqualified success – he never did get a ring before the league caught up to him, but I think we’d have been quite content with 5 90+ win seasons in a row (with 2 100+ win seasons thrown in). As would the White Sox.

The money only comes into it because his hand was forced by running a low-cash org. How he was able to turn that into a competitive advantage is a terrific story of vision, leadership, and guts.

"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root

by Clutch16 on Jun 17, 2011 4:59 PM CDT up reply actions

Don't think so

The first two picks Beane had in that draft were Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton. Pretty good, if you ask me. He got Mark Teahan later in the comp round. Kenny Williams pick in the first round was Royce Ring. Beane rips Williams for taking Royce Ring over Joe Blanton, which in retrospect looks pretty smart.

Sure, Jeremy Brown didn’t turn out to be much as did a few others, but no one hits on all of their draft picks.

If you want to rip the draft section, go after the description of Prince Fielder, who was called “too fat even for the Oakland A’s.”

Beane’s problem is that no one undervalues OBP anymore.

by Josh Timmers on Jun 18, 2011 3:41 AM CDT up reply actions

Beane's plan started long before...

Just met a guy that played with Beane in AAA for the Twins. He told me that Beane and players on the team talked about a strategy(on the back of the bus) to take some players like them (good, not great players and small-ball to success). There were a couple of guys on that team who were never going to make it big because they didn’t project to be stars. They talked about how they could take a bunch of guys like them and still compete by doing the little things. The idea that Beane came to this realization after he took control of a MLB team that didn’t have money may not be very accurate but makes him look better. That wasn’t what actually started the idea. It was how guys like Beane could be MLB players and compete with the big boys.

by Walt on Jun 21, 2011 12:18 AM CDT reply actions